No. 9 MU Travels to No. 12 Creighton and Providence in Regular Season FInale

MILWAUKEE – The BIG EAST regular season finale has arrived with huge implications as the 9^th-ranked Marquette women's volleyball team visits No. 12 Creighton on Friday, Nov. 22 at 6 p.m. CT and will conclude the regular season slate at Providence on Sunday, Nov. 24 beginning at 12 p.m. CT.

The winner of Friday's match will earn at least a share of the BIG EAST regular season title, which Creighton has claimed for five-straight seasons. MU is currently tied with the Bluejays with identical 15-1 records. The Golden Eagles lone conference loss was a 3-2 decision against Creighton, while the Bluejays were swept by Villanova.

Friday's match will stream on the BIG EAST Digital Network via YouTube, Caffeine.tv and Twitter, while Sunday's match will stream on Friars.com for a subscription fee.

MU owns an overall record of 25-3 and the Golden Eagles lead the conference in hitting percentage (.282), kills (14.9) and assists (14.23) and are currently on a 10-game winning streak. Leading the conference in kills is senior Allie Barber, averaging 4.68 kills per set and sits 12^th in the NCAA with 474 kills.

WATCH LIVE/FOLLOW THE ACTION:
Video – Creighton: BIG EAST Digital Network: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3JohUh4pFw
Providence ($$): https://friars.com/watch/?Live=262&type=Live
Live Stats – Creighton: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=264402
Providence: https://friars.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary

OPPONENTS:
CREIGHTON (22-4, 15-1 BIG EAST): The Bluejays are 10-1 at the Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center and DJ Sokol Arena and enter the match ranked No. 12 in the country. Riding a three-game winning streak, leading Creighton offensively is redshirt-freshman Keely Davis, averaging 3.31 kills per set. Davis led CU with 31 kills helping them advance over the Golden Eagles the last time these two teams met and has been selected as BIG EAST Freshman of the Week nine times this season.

Creighton owns the all-time series over MU, 17-4, including winning a five-set thriller in Milwaukee earlier this season.

PROVIDENCE (6-23, 1-15 BIG EAST): The Friars are riding a five-game losing streak and will face DePaul on Friday evening. Leading PU offensively is freshmen Jennifer Leitman averaging 2.91 kills per set, followed by freshman Emma Nelson who contributes 2.55 kills per set. The team also benefits from junior Allison Barber who adds 8.12 assists per set and 2.89 digs per set.

Marquette dominates the all-time series 12-0 and has never lost a set to the Friars.

WHAT THE TEAM IS SAYING:
"It's an important final weekend of BIG EAST play and I am excited for our seniors to have this opportunity. It would be a great reward for their efforts over the last 3.5 years to be able to claim at least a share of the BIG EAST regular season championship with a win over Creighton and then head to Providence on Sunday with the chance to play for the outright title.

Creighton's serve/pass game and their defense makes it really stressful."
-Ryan Theis, Head Coach

STORYLINES:
· HISTORIC START: At 25-3 overall Marquette has produced its best record through 28 contests in program history with the 25 wins ranking fourth all-time for victories. The Golden Eagles' three losses have come to current No. 3 Baylor, No. 25 Illinois, and No. 12 Creighton.

· PLAYING FOR THE CROWN: The final weekend of BIG EAST action has multiple implications as Friday's match at Creighton will help determine the BIG EAST Regular season champion. The winner of the match will earn at least a share of the title. Marquette has won just one BIG EAST regular season championship in 2013, while the Bluejays has won the previous five.

· TOURNAMENT TEAMS: The teams for the 2019 BIG EAST Championship presented by Jeep have been decided, but seeding is still up for grabs. Marquette, Creighton, Villanova and St. John's have clinched berths with Marquette and Creighton playing for the No. 1 or No. 2 seed and Villanova and St. John's playing for the No. 3 or No. 4 seed. Villanova and St. John's conclude the season playing each other.

· AVCA POLL: The Golden Eagles remain at No. 9 this week in the AVCA Coaches' Poll after they entered the poll ranked No. 16 in the preseason. This marks the 27^th consecutive week that Marquette has been ranked, dating back to Sept. 3, 2018 and the ninth week of the season that the squad is ranked in the top-10.

· BIG EAST WEEKLY AWARDS: Marquette junior Hope Werch finds herself on the BIG EAST Honor Roll for the second week in a row after a stellar performance including back-to-back double-doubles. Senior Allie Barber has been named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week. Barber led the Golden Eagles with 5.25 kills per set while hitting at a .287 clip in a pair of wins over Georgetown and Villanova. This is the sixth time Barber has received the honor this season alone.

This is not the first time Marquette players have received BIG EAST honors.

Nov. 12: Hope Werch (BIG EAST Honor Roll); Nov. 5: Allie Barber (BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week) and Martha Konovodoff (BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week ); Oct. 29: Allie Barber (BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week) and Hope Werch (Honor Roll); Oct. 22: Allie Barber (BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week); Oct.17: Allie Barber (BIG EAST Honor Roll); Oct. 15: Allie Barber (BIG EAST Honor Roll); Oct. 1: Allie Barber (Offensive Player of the Week) and Hope Werch (Honor Roll); Sept. 24: Allie Barber and Martha Konovodoff (Honor Roll); Sept. 16: Allie Barber (Offensive Player of the Week); Sept. 9: Hope Werch (Honor Roll); Sept. 3: Kaitlyn Lines (Offensive Player of the Week).

· BARBER NAMED SENIOR CLASS AWARD FINALIST: Senior Allie Barber was selected as one of 10 finalists for the 2019 Volleyball Senior CLASS Award. Nationwide fan voting is open through Dec. 2. Votes will be combined with media and Division I head coaches' votes to determine the winner. Vote for Allie at: http://www.seniorclassaward.com/vote/volleyball_2019/

· RPI WATCH: Marquette moves to No. 11 in this week's RPI rankings. Friday's opponent Creighton ranks 20^th while Sunday's opponent Providence ranks 300^th.

· BREAKING THE RECORD: Senior Allie Barber broke the all-time kills record in a 22-kill performance against Georgetown last weekend. Barber passed Marquette Hall of Famer Theresa Coughlin, who played from 2002-05, and had 1,733 career kills. Currently owning 1,775 kills, Barber looks to bolster the record before the end of the season and graduating from Marquette.

· NATIONAL SCENE: The 6-2 offense has worked for the Golden Eagles as the squad is ranked second in assists averaging 14.23 per game. Lauren Speckman is handing out 6.96 assists per set, which is seventh in the BIG EAST, while Claire Mosher averages 4.88.

Marquette is second in the NCAA in kills per set with 14.91, led by Allie Barber at 4.69 per set, which leads the BIG EAST and ranks 12th in the NCAA. The Golden Eagles are allowing just 11.7 kills per set from opponents.

· EXCLUSIVE COMPANY: Barber is one of just three players in the NCAA that average 4.69 kills per set, while also hitting at a .315 clip or above.
Jordan Thompson, Cincinnati: 6.32 kills/set, .354 hitting percentage
Chichi Ikwuazom, Columbia: 5.32 kills/set, .438 hitting percentage
Allie Barber, Marquette: 4.69 kills/set, .315 hitting percentage

· 20-WIN CAMPAIGN: The Golden Eagles reached their ninth consecutive 20-win season. MU recorded a program-record 28 victories in 2018.

· TOP-10 VICTORIES: The Golden Eagles have four top-10 wins in program history and have earned two top-15 road wins this season. MU defeated then- No. 4 Wisconsin on Sept. 5 for the first time in program history, which marked the highest-ranked team that Marquette has ever defeated. The squad also topped then- No. 13 BYU on Aug. 31. The Golden Eagles' other top-10 wins came in a 3-2 victory over No. 7 Florida in 2014 and a 3-1 win at No. 7 USC in the 2016 opener.

· THEIS STATS: Head coach Ryan Theis is in his sixth season at the helm of the Golden Eagles and owns a 288-104 career record with a 143-49 mark at Marquette.

· Theis is the 17th winningest coach in Division I with a .745 percentage through 11 seasons as a head coach. He has never had a season with fewer than 21 wins and the 28 victories for Marquette in 2018 was a career best in victories for Theis as head coach.

· Marquette is 24-20 in season openers and 6-0 in the Ryan Theis era.

· BIG EAST OPENERS: The Golden Eagles opened their 15th season of BIG EAST competition on Sept. 25 and own an 10-5 record in league lidlifters, including a 4-2 mark under Ryan Theis.

· OTHER NOTABLES:
· The Golden Eagles were picked to win the BIG EAST in the 2019 preseason coaches' poll, earning eight first-place votes, which is the second consecutive season that Marquette was selected first in preseason.
· Marquette played a tough non-conference schedule and faced four ranked opponents and two that are receiving votes in the AVCA preseason coaches' poll beginning at No. 9 BYU. MU also travels to No. 4 Wisconsin (Sept. 5), hosts No. 17 Baylor (Sept. 8) and takes on No. 6 Illinois (Sept. 15 at Illinois State). UCF (Sept. 13) and Northern Iowa (Sept. 21) are receiving votes in the poll. BIG EAST foe Creighton is ranked No. 11 in the poll.
· Senior Allie Barber was chosen as the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year for the second straight season, while juniors Hope Werch and Martha Konovodoff were selected to the preseason squad.
· Marquette added two transfers and two freshmen to the squad for the 2019 season. Gwyn Jones joins the Golden Eagles as a senior from Auburn, while Kaitlyn (KJ) Lines is a junior transferring from Pacific. Claire Nuessmeier (St. Peter, Minn.) and Hannah Vanden Berg (Little Chute, Wis.) round out the squad as freshmen.

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